I was perusing Anime News Network some time ago and came across an interesting article called “Japan’s Box Office Dropped 45% in 2020, With Demon Slayer Accounting for 1/4 of Total“. While the article has a variety of information concerning box office grosses, percentage of Japanese movies revenue etc., what really stood out to me was the fact that five of the top ten highest-grossing Japanese movies were anime films. These were Demon Slayer – Kimetsu no Yaiba – The Movie: Mugen Train at first place, Doraemon the Movie: Nobita’s New Dinosaur at fourth place, Violet Evergarden: The Movie at seventh place, Fate/stay night: Heaven’s Feel III. spring song at ninth place and My Hero Academia: Heroes Rising at tenth place. This made me ponder the question of how prominent is anime in the Japanese box office.
Before I begin discussing this topic, there are a few facts that I wish to point out. First, it’s important to remember that 2020 has proven to be a highly unusual year given the fact that the world is, as of the writing of this article, facing a pandemic on a scale not seen in many decades. The quarantines in place throughout the world to slow the effect of this disease has also had a dramatic effect on many industries including the film industry and has seen box office grosses plunge dramatically. Secondly, it’s important to remember that the success of Demon Slayer was quite an anomaly with the article clearly pointing out that the Demon Slayer movie grossed a quarter of all revenue in the 2020 Japanese box office! For perspective, the second highest-grossing Japanese movie of the year, the live-action film Kyou Kara Ore Wa!! only grossed about a seventh of what Demon Slayer managed to gross. Finally, I’d like to mention that while I do intend to look at some of the highest-grossing anime films of all time, I also intend to look at how the average anime film performs in the box office and how they compare to Japanese live-action films.
Firstly, we should begin by discussing the Japanese film industry itself. The Japanese film industry is one of the largest film industries in the world and has been producing films for over a century. Many of their films have been listed as some of the greatest films of all time with notable examples being the 1953 film Tokyo Story and the 1954 film Seven Samurai. However, the Japanese film industry has been accused of being on a decline in quality due to a variety of factors such as production committees, low pay and lack of accountability. At the same time, we have seen the anime industry grow dramatically in popularity worldwide and it seems particularly noteworthy that the top five highest-grossing Japanese films of all time are anime.
However, this may paint a very different picture than reality when it comes to the general performance of anime films in Japan. While it’s true that some anime films have done incredibly well in the Japanese box office, it’s more important to mention the fact that many anime films struggle to break even $1 million at the box office. Instead, these films are often reliant on home video sales and merchandising in order to make a profit. However, a theatrical release results in more critics reviewing the film as well as a greater marketing campaign.
When it comes to how much of the Japanese box office anime films make up in any given year, I’ve been unable to find a definitive answer. As part of my research, I attempted to find a percentage breakdown of Japanese live-action films vs anime films in terms of box office gross for each year. However, I’ve been unable to locate this information and the best that I’ve been able to find is that many of the highest-grossing Japanese films in 2019, 2018 and 2017 were anime films. However, it’s entirely possible these films still only make up a small slice of the Japanese market as a whole and, without more definitive data, I’m unable to say on a granular level how prominent anime films are in the Japanese box office.
However, even if I can’t give any specifics when it comes to anime at the Japanese box office, I do think it’s notable that anime films, particularly from Studio Ghibli and Makoto Shinkai, have become the highest-grossing Japanese films of their year and many other franchises such as Doraemon and Detective Conan also consistently make their way to the top of the Japanese box office. While I cannot say definitively how prominent anime is in the Japanese box office, I can say with certainty that anime is, nonetheless, an incredibly important part of the Japanese film industry.
Let me know your thoughts on how prominent anime films are in the Japanese box office, whether you have information on the box office percentage of anime films vs live-action Japanese films, whether you have had any interesting experiences with regards to anime films in Japanese cinemas and any additional information you might have on the topic.
Hopefully you have found this article interesting and informative and, if you wish to seek any of the works I mentioned, don’t hesitate to use amazon.co.uk or amazon.com for all of your needs!